Memories
by vanhoose
Summary: Along the way, we'll create memories that'll last a lifetime-some good, some bad. As long as we have each other, that's all that matters.
1. Because It's Christmas Stupid!

**Hey guys! I've been thinking of starting a multi-chap full of one-shots for some time now. But this Christmas one-shot came to mind, and I just knew it was time to put it into action! **

**Here's a futuristic one, probably a few years out of college. Amanda and Finn have been married a little over a year and have a cute little four-month old son. Just in time for the holidays, here's a Christmas one-shot for all of y'all! Enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 1: Because It's Christmas Stupid

The sound of the baby crying woke Finn up. He rolled over, wrapping his arm around his wife's waist. "Mandy, it's your turn."

Amanda stirred a little and groaned, still half asleep. "If you don't go shut up your son, I'm going to kick you so hard—"

"Fine," Finn mumbled as he got out of bed. He made sure to go over her, just to make a point. He got out of bed, put some socks on his cold feet, and slowly made his way across the hall to their son's bedroom. He reached into the crib and picked up their crying son.

First things first, he sniffed the diaper. Luckily, it smelt normal. He was so glad he didn't have to change the diaper in the middle of the night. That was the worst part of having a kid. He cradled his four-month old son like he did on the day he was born and started rocking him gently.

With his son in his arms, Finn made his way out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room, where the Christmas tree was still lit up. _Great, I forgot to turn off the lights. _Finn leaned down to unplug them, careful not to drop his son.

Once the lights were off, Finn sat down on the couch and continued to rock his son. He glanced over at the clock beside the television and cringed. It was two thirteen in the morning. Finn leaned his head back and closed his eyes. _What a great way to start off Christmas._

Before he knew it, he felt someone shaking his shoulders lightly. He opened his eyes to see Amanda leaning over him.

"Good morning, Finn," she whispered. She leaned over and kissed his right cheek as she sat next to him on the couch.

Finn looked down at their son and then back up at his wife with a guilty look. "How long was I out?"

Amanda gave him a warm smile. "It's seven in the morning. I believe you and little Zach have set a new record. That's the longest either of you have slept since he was born."

Finn leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "It was so good too." He opened his eyes and glared at her. "Why did you have to ruin it?"

"Because it's Christmas stupid. You're supposed to be up early."

"I was up at two thirteen. Where were you?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Asleep like normal people."

"Tell that to _your_ son," Finn joked.

Amanda leaned forward and pointed a finger on their son. "Zachary Dillard Whitman. Your father and I order you to let us get more sleep! You're killing us already!"

"I'm sure that did the trick," Finn joked.

"Oh shut it," Amanda whispered as she placed her head in the crook of his neck. Finn placed his son in his lap and wrapped an arm around his wife.

They stayed this way for a solid ten minutes before an idea popped in Finn's head.

"Wanna open presents?" He asked Amanda. He could feel the giddy little kid inside of him creeping up to the surface. If it was one thing he loved as a child, it was opening presents on Christmas morning.

"Okay," Amanda leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Let me get my camera. I want to get a couple of pictures of Zach's first Christmas."

Amanda got up and left the room. Finn picked up his son and put him in the baby chair on the floor by the television. If he was lucky, Zach would sleep for a few more minutes, so they could exchange presents in peace. He turned the Christmas lights back on, along with the lamps scattered across the room. He reached under the tree and grabbed the two presents—one for her, one for him—and placed them on the coffee table.

Amanda came back into the room and he heard her take a few pictures with the new camera Jess had bought her a few months ago. Finn turned around, noticed that she was still in her pajamas and smiled.

She wearing green and black Nike dry-fit shorts and a skin-tight, red, spaghetti-strap tank top with her hair pulled back into a messy braid. Finn couldn't help but smile.

She noticed him staring. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "What?"

"You," he took a few steps closer to her, "look beautiful." He hoped his cheesy grin made his statement even cheesier. He knew she loved his cheesy-ness.

Amanda rolled her eyes and placed the camera on the nearby coffee table. "You are sucking up." She poked him in the chest. "Which means you probably have a crappy present."

Finn gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "You want to find out?" He winked at her, pointing to her present on the coffee table.

Amanda's face lit up as she grabbed her present. She sat down on the couch and he grabbed the camera. He took pictures of her as she opened her gift. The tag claimed it was from their son Zach, but she knew better.

She opened up the rectangular box and saw a white t-shirt that said "Number One Mom" in green letters. She picked it up, holding it against her chest for a picture, completely ignoring the second gift hidden in the bottom of the box.

After Finn took the picture of her, she was about to put the t-shirt back in the box when she saw the pair of earrings lying there.

"Oh Finn," she whispered as she picked them up. They were simple pearl earrings, but she couldn't have been happier. "You remembered!"

Of course he remembered. He had overheard her talking to Jess on the phone one day about how she had lost her favorite pair of earrings in the move back in January. They had gotten married last May, but they hadn't moved out of Orlando until January. He remembered how upset she was at losing those and Finn knew that he needed to come to the rescue and buy her a new pair. Unfortunately, the specific pearl earrings that she had once had were very expensive—at least for a newly married couple. He had skimmed a little out of their savings each month (only five dollars, not enough to feel guilty about it) to help buy a new pair for her when the time came—but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Amanda looked up at him and gave him the biggest smile. "Oh, Finn, I love them!" She pulled him in a huge, tight hug.

She let go of him and reached over to the coffee table and grabbed his present. She gave it to him, taking the camera from him in exchange.

She held up the camera to her eye, ready to take a picture as Finn unwrapped his gift.

He opened up the long, rectangular box and saw a brand new laptop sitting there.

"Oh…my…"

"I remember you saying your old one was starting to screw up, and this one just came out, and Philby gave me a discount since he works for the store that sells them, and—"

Amanda was cut off by a kiss from Finn. He pulled back and gave her a huge smile, one that she gladly returned.

"I love it, Amanda."

Baby Zach stirred and both Amanda and Finn looked in his direction. He had finally woken up. Amanda kissed her husband on the cheek as she walked over to their son. She picked him up out of his little chair and held him close.

"Merry Christmas Zach," she whispered into his little ear.

Finn picked up the camera and took a picture of mother and son.

"Should we try our first family Christmas picture?" He asked her with a mischievous grin on his face.

She nodded, giddy with the excitement of finally having their first Christmas as a family.

He then turned on the camera's timer and set the camera on top of the television. He hurried to get himself and Amanda in place before the picture was taken.

He stood there, arms wrapped around his wife who was holding their son. At least mother and father were smiling into the camera. There was no telling what kind of face their son was making. No matter how many pictures they attempted, he always found a way to not smile.

After the camera flashed, Finn grabbed the camera and looked at the picture. Amanda peeked over his shoulder and they both smiled at the cute family picture. Despite both of them being in their pajamas, it was one cute family picture.

"At least one of you boys are looking good in that picture," Amanda joked. Finn turned around and glared at her.

"You mean me, right?"

"Maybe," Amanda taunted as she walked back down the hall toward their son's room.

"Where are you going?" Finn called after her.

She glanced over her shoulder and winked at him. "We've got to get ready! We're supposed to be at Charlene's for presents at nine. We've got to look presentable!"

Finn set the camera down on the coffee table and headed to their bedroom. "I don't know about you, Amanda, but I am always presentable."

He heard her laugh from their son's room and smiled to himself. A few minutes later she came in and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He turned around in her grasp and kissed her.

What started out as a simple kiss quickly turned into a deep, passionate kiss. After what seemed like a long time, he ended the kiss and gave her a quick smile. "Merry Christmas babe."

She gave him one quick peck on the lips. "Merry Christmas to you too."

She let go of him and walked back into their room, rummaging through the drawers at his desk. When she had found what she was looking for, she brought it back over to him. He noticed that it was his old camera he had gotten at a yard sale in college. It was one of those old cameras that immediately printed out the picture after you took it. It took a few seconds for the picture to develop, but Finn loved it—and he knew Amanda did too.

Amanda snuggled close to him and he wrapped his arms around her. She held up the camera with her free hand. "Say cheese!"

She clicked the button and the picture began to print out. Once it had developed, Finn smiled at the picture. Amanda kissed him on the cheek.

"It's our first Christmas as a family, Finn." She looked up at him with a smile. "We're getting old."

"Oh gosh, we're that old married couple now." Finn turned his expression into a sour one just for fun and Amanda laughed, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I love you," Finn said as he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too, Finn." She let go of him and walked into their walk-in closet. "But we've seriously got to get going. We've got an hour drive to Charlene's."

Finn rolled his eyes playfully and started changing out of his pajamas. It didn't matter how this day went, it was his first Christmas as father and his second one as a husband. Nothing could ruin his good mood today. _Nothing_.

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**So what did y'all think? Please review so I can find out! If y'all have any suggestions for one-shots let me know and I'll see what I can do! (For those of you who read any of my other multi-chaps, I'm doing my best to get those updated soon!)**

**Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate this time of year! :)**


	2. Sounds Like A Date

**Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter's "memory" per se (see what I did there?). I hope y'all like this one just as much.**

**Here's a cute little (and very short...sorry) story about Willa and Philby. I'd say this is before the fourth book, when they've been in 9th grade for a month or so. **

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 2: Sounds Like a Date

Willa paid for her lunch and stepped out into the cafeteria, searching for a table. She searched the tables for a certain redhead but couldn't find him. She started slowly walking up the aisle in between the row of tables and found him sitting at one of the tables in the back.

She perked up and headed his way, an extra skip in her step. Right before she sat down next to him, three popular girls took her place.

"So Dell," the first one—Olivia—said as she leaned close to him, "you're famous, right? What's it like?"

"Ever met Orlando Bloom?" The second girl—Samantha—asked as she smacked on her gum.

"What about Ryan Gosling?" The third girl—Adelaide—asked, obviously sizing up Philby like he was a piece of meat. Willa felt the anger rising in her.

"Uh…no…I've never met anyone _that_ famous." Philby shifted in his seat, obviously nervous around the girls. Willa decided to watch on from a few feet away.

"Oh come on, Dell," Olivia put her hand on his left arm. Philby winced and moved away from her.

"I go by Philby, Olivia…" Philby became suddenly interesting in his nasty cafeteria food.

"Philby? What a cute name!" Samantha said as she scooted closer to his right side. From the place Willa was standing, she could see Philby wince again. She held in laughter. She was almost tempted to pull out her phone and take a photo of this and send it to Maybeck and Finn. Neither of them would believe what was going on right now.

"So Philby," Adelaide leaned over the table and winked at him. "Tell us what it's like to be famous."

"Uh…I…uh…"

Samantha kissed him on the cheek and Philby stood up. "Whoa! I've got a girlfriend!"

_Girlfriend?_ Willa almost let her jaw drop but composed herself. _When was he going to tell me this?_

Philby turned around, searching for someone frantically. His eyes settled on Willa and he relaxed a little.

"There she is! Willa! Over here sweetheart!" He called out to her, waving her over to his table.

Willa composed herself and walked over to the table, placing her plate right next to Philby's, conveniently in front of Samantha.

Philby pulled her into a hug. "Play along," he whispered into her ear.

Willa nodded as he let go of her. Both of them sat down—Willa wedging herself between Philby and Samantha—and saw the three popular girls staring at them with awe.

"You're dating _her_?" Olivia asked, pointing to Willa with disgust. "Oh please!"

"Philby, honey, you can do a lot better than _her_!" Adelaide looked at Willa with a scowl on her face.

"She's a nerd and _mega_ ugly. Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke!" Samantha added.

Philby wrapped an arm around Willa's waist. "Shut up! All of you! This is my girlfriend you're talking about here!" He turned to face her. Willa noticed how he didn't move his arm from her waist. "She's beautiful and smart and everything I've ever wanted."

"Kiss her then!" Olivia called their bluff as she crossed her arms.

"Fine," Philby said as he leaned in, kissing Willa on the cheek. She felt her heart skip a beat. She noted how he acted like it was no big deal.

He turned to face the three girls. "Happy now?"

"That's not a real kiss, Philby." Olivia narrowed her eyes.

Willa noticed Philby take in a sharp breath. He turned to face Willa, his blue eyes mesmerizing her. "Uh…okay. One little kiss for the girls to prove that we're dating?" He whispered to her.

Willa nodded and an invisible force drew them together. Philby's lips were an inch from meeting hers when Adelaide called out.

"Eww! We don't want to see the nerds kissing!" Philby and Willa jumped apart. Willa pushed her hair behind her ear nervously, even though not a hair was in her face.

All three girls giggled before picking up their plates and leaving them alone. Both Willa and Philby focused on the nasty cafeteria food.

"Sorry about that Willa. But I am glad that you were there. You saved me from those girls. Talk about being in the right place at the right time, huh?"

Willa laughed a little, masking the embarrassment she was feeling inside. "Consider it a favor. You were very convincing, though…"

"I was only telling the truth about you. It's their fault they don't see it," Philby said as he plopped a piece of cafeteria mystery meat into his mouth. Willa felt the heat rush to her cheeks. She kept her head down so that he couldn't see her blushing.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Philby glanced over at her, wanting to tell her so many things. He opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, but not a sound came out. He had just blurted out that last line so nonchalantly. How come he couldn't do that two times in a row? Should he put his arm around her waist again? Should he hold her hand? Kiss her on the cheek? What should he say to convince her that he liked her? Should he just ask her out on a date?

_No,_ Philby reminded himself. _She has Spencer. She would never go for you as long as he's around._

"So…" Willa turned to face him. "Have you started the project for Mr. E's class yet?"

Philby let out a sigh of relief. School was a safe topic. "Yeah, I started it last night. What about you?"

"No, not yet. I was wondering if you could…uh…help me?"

Philby smiled. "Yeah sure." He tried to sound nonchalant, but he knew it did not come off that way.

Willa smiled back. "Great! Want to come over after school and work on the project together?"

"Sounds like a date!" Philby froze. "Uh…not a date…I mean…uh…"

Willa laughed, making him even more confused. "I get what you meant, Philby."

Philby laughed nervously. "That's good. Wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea, now would we?"

Willa's laughter turned to a nervous one. "Yeah…we wouldn't want that."

They both turned to their attentions to their food. Maybe one day things wouldn't be so awkward for them…just not today.

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**Like? Dislike? Review? Any suggestions for one-shots? I'd love a challenge!**


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